Learn Spanish in Cusco and live like a local

The beautiful city of Cusco received over 3 million tourists annually before the pandemic and is an excellent destination for a Spanish-language course in Peru. In the beautiful city center, you find excellent restaurants, cozy cafes, travel agencies, shops, and clubs to meet the needs of the many travelers. However, this is not the life local people in Cusco lead, and if you study Spanish in Peru and live in Cusco for some time, you are no longer a typical tourist. The local life is much more interesting, more authentic, and, best of all, cheaper. This blog will teach you about Cusco through the eyes of locals and show you how to learn Spanish in Cusco and live like a local.

Eating in Cusco’s Historical Center?

If you are traveling in Peru, you have plenty of opportunities to enjoy amazing Peruvian food and drink. In the historic city center of Cusco, you can find excellent, trendy restaurants for all budgets. However, sometimes prices are adjusted for tourists rather than locals. Therefore, you won’t see many locals eating in many restaurants.

So, where do they go? Well, they have their own places, and many of them are very good! First of all, many eat closer to their homes, or at the Avenida de la Cultura; not around the Plaza de Armas or in San Blas. All over Cusco, you find amazing typical Peruvian food, from Lomo Saltado to Chincharon and from Ceviche to Cuy for great prices. And you will certainly get great value for your money! The portions are often bigger than in the historical center while you pay less. By eating outside the center, you also engage with locals, and it’s the perfect way to learn Spanish during your stay in Cusco. Did you know you can find some of those locally oriented restaurants near our Spanish school, even though we are located in downtown Cusco? You may need to walk in the opposite direction 🙂

So once your gringo stomachs have adjusted to Cusco, you are ready to explore more and more of the lovely Peruvian local cuisine. Once you know the hotspots, you can even indulge in Peruvian street food more often.

Would you like to take Spanish lessons in Cusco? Contact us or learn more here.

We have a few tips from our ex-students:

• Yola – A favorite lunch spot for many. Yola offers the best local Peruvian dishes at low prices and very healthy portions (seriously, order a medio plato). However, this place is very popular with locals as well, so they can sometimes run out of some of the more popular dishes during the lunch rush.
• Punto Mar Cevichería – You might be surprised, but many students turn into Peruvian ceviche fanatics. This delicious seafood restaurant, located in the Magisterio neighborhood, offers a wide variety of ceviches and other Peruvian seafood dishes, like tacu tacu.
• La Bodega 138 – This restaurant has the best pizza in town! Not only does it have the classics, like a Margarita pizza, but it also has funkier pizzas, including one with kiwi. La Bodega also has a great selection of local beers and has the perfect ambiance for a Friday night post-work gathering. Here you can find both locals, expats, Spanish students, and travelers.

More Tips:
Best Restaurants in Cusco: a Food Guide

Buy Where the Locals Buy

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping in Cusco is a little more involved than just hitting up your local Trader Joe´s. Often, to find all of the essentials, you might have to visit more than one place. Local people mostly buy from the local market, and non-perishables and meat from a supermarket.

Cusco has many typical Peruvian markets, e.g. the Mercado San Pedro near the Plaza de Armas or the picturesque Mercado San Blas – a two-minute walk from our Spanish School in Cusco. However, more and more, those once-local markets focus on tourists, leading to higher prices and the proliferation of souvenir shops.

Fortunately, there is another market that is even more local and with an even wider variety of food. This place is called the Mercado Wanchaq, and its solid fruity smell greets visitors from a distance. So if you want to buy some fruit for a sunny afternoon or prepare a kingly supper, this is the place to go!

When at the market, it´s all about finding your particular vendors and proving yourself to be a loyal customer to their stand and establishing a relationship with them; you want to become their ‘casero’. In turn, the vendors will reward your loyalty by giving you lower prices or un aumento, meaning extra food for the price of less!

 

As for the grocery stores in Cusco, here is a list of a few of the stores:

• Orion – While this grocery store has two locations close to the city center of Cusco, it usually doesn´t have as many things as some of the other grocery stores. However, what it lacks in product, it makes up for in convenience.
• La Canasta – This grocery chain has a couple of different locations a little outside of the city center. That being said, it has pretty much everything, including some food products imported from other countries (yes, that means Tabasco sauce). If you live in the center, expect to take a bus or taxi to get here.
• Plaza Vea – This is the grocery store located in Cusco´s one and only mall (Real Plaza, see below). Prices here are much higher, but just like at La Canasta, you can find a wide variety of imported food and just about anything else you would need for your house. Think Peruvian Target! Again, this store will require some navigating in a bus or taxi from the city center (see below)

More shopping

Do you need some new clothes but you are done with alpaca sweaters and hippie pants? Or do you need some electronics or other stuff? Let’s see where the local people buy.

Shopping Malls in Cusco

Of course, there are many different shops in the different neighborhoods in Cusco – you find some down Avenida del Sol, Avda. de la Cultura and others. But did you know Cusco has its very own shopping mall? It’s called Real Plaza, and you have to take a bus or a taxi to get there (Avda. Collasuyo, 10 soles by taxi).

Real Plaza

Real Plaza is a very nice, modern mall opened a few years ago. There are quite a few American shops and restaurants. There is also a very well-stocked Plaza Vea Supermarket and a multiplex cinema.

El Molino

Another ‘shopping mall Cusco Style’ is El Molino, the black market. Many tourists are unaware of this place, but it sells everything from leather shoes and electronics to room decor and kitchen equipment. This indoor market is even bigger than the famous San Pedro Market, and the prices are low. It is easy to be amazed by the wide variety of goods offered; thus, this is a perfect place to shop in Cusco.

Cheer Up the Local Soccer Team

If you want to be part of the local community, why not visit a local football game? Sports unite people around the world. Luckily, there are countless bars in Cusco where you can check out the results of ‘your’ team, whether it is FC Barcelona, Manchester United or Ajax. However, while watching a football game in a bar might be fun, it is even more fun to attend a real football match in Cusco!

To wit, the Cusco regional team has a team playing in the highest Peruvian division, and there is a stadium in Cusco. Here you can find yourself among the fans of ‘Club Sportivo Cienciano’ and cheer up the old Inca team! Latin American fans are even more fanatic than their European counterparts, so an unforgettable experience is guaranteed!

Are you interested in visiting a local football game? The stadium of Club Sportivo Cienciano, Stadio Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, can be reached by a twenty-minute walk from the central Plaza de Armas. Unfortunately, tickets cannot be purchased online in advance, but it is easy to buy one at the stadium ticket counter. The best part is that attending a game costs only about 25 Peruvian Soles!

More information about attending a football game in Cusco.

Pastimes: what to do in Cusco after Spanish class

Take Daytrips Off-The-Beaten-Track

Is exploring Peru only reserved for wealthy Peruvians and tourists? You might think so when you see the prices of adventure tours or the train tours to Machu Picchu. However, there are definitely great off-the-beaten-track tours and treks you can do in the surroundings of Cusco, for instance if you head south in the direction of San Jerónimo, but also in the Sacred Valley and nearby Cusco, for instance behind Sacsahuyaman.

Hiking in Peru is a slightly different concept than in the US, because in Cusco there aren´t many marked trails or official trailheads. You find out about different hiking spots in the Cusco area by word of mouth, on Facebook, or simply by getting out and following a trail*. It makes everything truly an adventure, and you never know what cool things there are to discover. There are some beautiful Off-The-Beaten-Track hikes.

Other activities

However, there are many other things to see and do in Cusco besides hiking.
Here is a list of some nice things you can do in Cusco without spending a week’s budget on a day tourist day tour:

• Picnicking up at Sacsayhuaman/Cristo Blanco – There are plenty of local families who do this on nice days. It´s great to get out of the city without going too far and enjoying the view of the ruins.
• Visiting the Green Market in Pisac – This market happens every Saturday in Pisac (not to be confused with the daily artisanal market in Pisac). This is one of the only places you can get bagels in the Cusco region. The market also has great local honey, hummus, cream cheese, among other things like soaps and handmade goods.
• Going to the Cervecería Valley Sacred (Sacred Valley Brewing Company) – Many people are quite surprised that there is a craft brewery in the Cusco area, and one that is award-winning. Visiting the brewery is worth the hour-and-a-half voyage from Cusco because they make it an experience. The brewery has not only great beer, but also good food, an outdoor seating area with lawn games, and live music. It is also close to some awesome hikes, as well as the ruins of Ollantaytambo, and a super fun zip line, if you really need another excuse to get yourself out there besides excellent beer.
• Taking overnight camping trips in the Sacred Valley – As with hiking in the region, there are many great undiscovered camping spots all around the Cusco area. The Sacred Valley is very pleasant because it is generally warmer than Cusco. Many local families there will even let you camp on their land if you pay them a few soles.

So even though Rainbow Mountains and the Salkantay trek are stunning trips, if you spend more time in Cusco learning Spanish, there are certainly many other options for the remaining weekends. There are beautiful places and villages to discover for our Spanish students who want to stay off the tourist tracks.*

Make sure you go with locals, do thorough research, take time to prepare, know the route, and don’t get lost. There are several groups on Facebook about hiking in the Cusco area.

Learn Spanish in Cusco and live like a local

Learn Spanish in Cusco and live like a local

If you sign up for a Spanish course in Cusco, you won’t regret it. The city is full of life and culture, and there is so much you can do. In this post, we gave you some insider tips and tricks for learning Spanish in Cusco and living like a local.

The experience of living in a foreign country is very valuable to anyone who wants to get out, explore the world, and learn a language. It offers you a much deeper understanding of a new culture and worldview than your own. And as for places to live abroad and learn Spanish, Cusco simply can´t be beat! From the rich Peruvian history and ruins, to the delicious Peruvian food, vibrant nightlife in Cusco, and spectacular scenery, Cusco is a one-of-a-kind city that will forever hold a special place in many, many hearts.

 

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